


I need a hero...(not!)

by moonlight_petal



Series: Fiction inspired by music [6]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: BAMF Riley, Case Fic, Gen, Inspired by Music, Manager Mac, Model Riley, Pastries, Protective Jack, Stylist Bozer, Team as Family, Undercover operation, bodyguard jack, mentioned Penny Parker, self-defense is important, so many pastries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2020-01-13 04:37:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18461639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlight_petal/pseuds/moonlight_petal
Summary: The team has to go undercover. It's a matter of national security. Riley has to take a center role in this and Jack isn't happy. But Riley is exactly a damsel in distress.





	I need a hero...(not!)

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah summaries again... sigh...
> 
> As the title suggests, this fic was inspired by the song 'I need a hero' but turned out quite contrary to the actual lyrics but really Riley isn't the kind of girl who needs a knight in shining armour.  
> I had fun with this although, as always, it turned out differently than I planned and I had a lot more difficulties writing the 'bad guy' than I had imagined I would have.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you have fun!

** I need a hero...(not!) **

 

~*~

 

_I need a hero_  
_I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night_

 

                                          'I need a hero' - Bonnie Tyler, 1984

 

~*~

 

 

"Alright guys, come in and sit down, we have some work to do..." Matty greeted the team upon their arrival in the war room, rubbing her forehead as if she was fighting a headache already.

 

"You alright, Matty? What's this about?" Mac asked cautiously, sitting down on the couch in the middle of the room, grabbing a paperclip from the bowl on the table. If their boss looked like that, it certainly was a paperclip-bending kind of mission.

 

"Yeah fine, this mission is just giving me a headache before it even started yet. And that alone should give you a hint on how serious this is." the small woman turned around and faced the big screen, fiddling with her tablet.

 

The four agents shared a quick look, varying in degrees of concern (Mac), curiosity (Jack) and unease (Riley and Bozer).

 

"We recently received information that someone has managed to not only break into one of our best protected security networks but also to download several files of classified data without leaving much of a trail behind." Matty pulled up a report on the screen. "The information in those files contain highly classified details on deep cover ops all over the world, which -if in the wrong hands- will compromise decades of hard work and the lives of the agents involved. But not only that. Other files contain detailed plans of new security systems and weapon designs. I don't have to tell you what that would mean for us should they go into the wrong hands either."

 

Jack rubbed his chin thoughtfully, his eyes quickly scanning the information in the incident report.

"Well that's a giant clusterfuck, right there..." he murmured.

 

"As much as it pains me to admit but yeah, that's probably the best description for this... So far we don't know if the stolen files have been chosen at random or if it was a systematic hit." the director sighed.

 

"You said 'without leaving *much* of a trail', that would suggest he did leave behind some kind of digital footprint, wouldn't that be the moment to let Riley take over?" Mac frowned because so far this didn't make much sense to him. Riley certainly knew her way around this stuff after all.

 

"That would make sense but I get the feeling they don't need me to follow the trail, we already know who was behind this attack, am I right?" Riley asked, her eyes sharp, calculating almost, as she locked her gaze on their boss.

 

"That would be right, Riley. Our cyber security division took a bit of precious time, but they were able to uncover the identity of the hacker." Matty tapped at the screen and a new file appeared on the big screen. "Meet Simon Wells. He's arguably New York's most eligible bachelor currently. Wells has several degrees in various fields of computer science and coding and is at the age of 28 a self-made millionaire."

 

"Let me get this straight, we already know who did it? Why aren't you sending out some local FBI guys to knock down his door and put some highly fashionable cuffs on his highly fashionable ass?" Jack asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

 

"That's actually a good question, so far I'm not seeing how we fit into all this." Bozer added to Jack's interruption, confused beyond belief at the moment.

 

"The reason for that is that the local FBI already did that, Jack but Wells does have an alibi for the time frame of the hack. With his alibi checking out, there is no way any judge will sign a search warrant even if it concerns national security and without that we don't have solid evidence that it really was him and not some other skilled hacker who planted the lead." the woman explained and slowly the other four understood why this was giving their boss a headache.

 

"Even with a search warrant, I highly doubt Wells would be dumb enough to leave evidence lying around. If that was me, I would have done it with a custom rig, saved the files on a flashdrive and then burned the whole thing. There is no way you'd find something on his regular gear." Riley interjected.

 

"Thank you, Riley, that's exactly what we are assuming now happened, which is why we need to get to Wells personally and find that flashdrive. There is a high probability that he's trying to make good money with those files, which is why he won't leave this flashdrive unattended for long. However, Simon Wells is publicly known for being pretty paranoid with his work and he doesn't trust anyone with it. The press, I believe, calls him quirky in that regard. The objective of this op is to get close enough to Wells to get our hands on this flashdrive, with the actual, solid evidence we can lock him up before he has a chance to sell the information."

 

"And how exactly are we supposed to do that without tipping him off?" Jack asked, head tilted questioningly to the side.

 

"I'm coming to that, Jack... the trick will be to get him to come to us and for that the four of you will go undercover. Hacking and stealing national secrets aside, Simon Wells does have a big vice: he's a social butterfly in the circles of the young high society, throwing money around and partying. He seems to have a new woman on his arm every other weekend, all of them pretty young things, aspiring actresses, singers or models..."

 

"I'm already not liking where this is going..." Jack murmured under his breath, shooting a glance at Riley, who seemed to think the same although she didn't show it on her face.

 

Matty had heard him anyway and sighed.

"For the record, I don't like it either, not-" she looked at the young hacker as well. "- because I'm doubting Riley's capability but because we did a background check on some of the women and a good handful disappeared from the spotlight, never to be seen or heard from again after their run in with Wells. Every single one of them practically went into hiding and we don't have any clear evidence for that either but chances are that Wells had something to do with that as well and I very much dislike sending you in there blind. That is the main reason all four of you will go undercover, to get to Wells and search his room but also to back Riley up."

 

She handed out four envelopes containing their backlogged identities for this mission.

"Cyber did a very thorough analysis on Wells' 'hunting habits'. Riley's persona was tailor made to fit what he's looking for in the companion of the week, while you three pose as her staff basically. The meet-up is arranged to happen this weekend at an 'invitation only' party at The Plaza hotel. Despite being a New York local, Wells is known to book a suite in whichever hotel a party takes place. That's our chance.

You will check into the suite underneath Wells' as base for this operation. Any questions?" Matty looked at every one of them. "Good, in that case, go get familiar with your aliases and come back here bright and early for a final briefing before you fly out to New York."

 

Outside of the war room, Jack held Riley back from following Mac and Bozer, who were already ripping open their envelopes.

"You and me, gym, fifteen minutes. No arguments!" the older told Riley with a serious look, before walking away without another word.

 

**

 

The woman had thought about making it a point to arrive late but had thought better of it when she had recalled the expression on Jack's face before. That didn't mean she was reluctant and slightly annoyed by his request (more like order) though.

 

"Okay, here I am, old man... what's this about?" she asked, one eyebrow quirked and her arms crossed in front of her.

 

Jack had been waiting already, turned at her voice.

"Drop the attitude, Riley, I just want to make sure you're prepared for this mission. Come here."

 

Riley rolled her eyes at that.

"Is this going to be another of these 'Are you sure you're ready? I don't like this, I don't think you're ready.' talks? Because seriously, I don't need that again. I'm doing this, I'm fully capable of doing this if you just let me do my job without getting your panties in a twist every five seconds." she ranted, stepping closer anyway.

 

Jack looked pretty unimpressed by her speech.

"You know, judging by this defensive reaction, I could get the impression that you're actually doubting your own abilities, Riley. And that's something you can't afford when going undercover. And no, I hadn't planned on giving you that talk because, as much as you like to think differently, I did learn my lesson the last time even if it turned out I was right all along then. You're a big girl, you can take care of yourself, I know that, Riles. I don't doubt you! But sweetheart, I need to know that you can handle yourself in case you need help and we can't get to you fast enough. Can you give me that? Please?!"

 

The hacker watched her father figure with some level of suspicion.

"You're not going off on me how I'm not ready for this?"

 

Jack sighed and gently grabbed her shoulders.

"I'm not going to do that, promise. I won't lie, I don't like it and I'm worried about you. That doesn't mean that I don't trust you, however. I'm just as worried about Mac and Bozer when ever something like this goes down. Hell, truth be told, I might be even more worried then. As I said, I know you can take care of yourself, you proved that often enough before, but with this Wells guy, you're going in blind, we have not the faintest idea what he did to those girls there. I just, for my own peace of heart, need to see for myself that you can defend yourself. So, we're doing a bit of hand-to-hand training. I know Patti trained you to some degree, let's see what your body still remembers and maybe I can show you another trick or two in case this asshole tries something stupid, alright?"

 

Riley watched Jack for a long moment, gauging his honesty on the matter but ultimately nodded in agreement.

"Yeah alright, we can do that if it makes you happy, Jack. Should I get changed?" she wondered. In her training sessions with Thornton, she had always worn gym clothes after all.

 

"Well, that's your call, I guess. But chances are that when you actually need to use your training you won't be wearing comfortable gym pants. It might be useful to know your actual range of motion when you're wearing jeans or something. And even that might be a stretch, most likely would be a dress and high heels..." Jack replied nonchalantly.

 

"Alright, I get it. I won't go and get changed into a dress just for this... this is going to have to suffice now." she waved at her jeans and sneakers.

 

"Fine by me..." he took his place on the mats. "Alright, come at me..." he ordered, watching Riley quickly assessing his stance before going into attack.

 

He had to give it to his girl, she's learned quite a lot. He just wasn't entirely sure how much of that had been Patti and how much she had to learn the hard way in prison. But Jack couldn't think about that now, couldn't afford getting distracted.

 

It didn't take long for the both of them to be breathing hard and be drenched in sweat from the exercise.

"That's good, Riles. I knew you can look after yourself, I'm actually impressed. Now... did Patti teach you this move?" he demonstrated as best as he could.

 

"Thanks, Jack. And no, not that I can remember." the woman said after watching, trying to wipe her sweat at the hem of her shirt.

 

"Huh and here I would have thought Patti would lead her training with that one. Alright, I'll teach it to you but you have to promise me not to use it against any of us, alright? The men on this team don't deserve that. This is actually the kind of self-defence move guys don't want women to know because it's a sure way for them to find themselves out cold on the floor."

 

They went over the theory of the move and then Riley tried. And tried. And tried again but didn't manage it.

 

"You're holding back, kid. Don't do that, despite of what I said earlier I can take it, I promise. Show me you have learn-ow!" Jack gasped, landing hard on the mat with Riley kneeling on his chest to keep him pinned. "Yeah alright, you got it, sweetheart..." he wheezed out. "Well done, Riles! That should do it if all else fails. Now I feel a lot better about leaving you out of my sight there." Jack smiled, sitting up, leaning his elbows on his knees, catching his breath.

 

"Thanks Jack. Actually, I do feel a lot better about this mission now too, so thank you for that as well." Riley sat next to him, waving her hand in front of her face in an effort to cool down some.

 

"Don't mention it, kid! Come on... we've got some preparation to do and I'm sure Mac and Bozer are already waiting." the older said while getting to his feet, holding out a hand to pull Riley up as well.

 

~*~

 

The preparation and timing of the operation had been quite extensive and detailed. All four of them had well thought out roles, Riley's even more so and before they had flown out to New York City the next day, the hacker had been called down for a quick photoshooting for her cover.

 

The team's arrival at The Plaza had been arranged according to Wells' plans, so that the man couldn't help but already get a good look at Riley and take an interest when she strode down the lobby. Her hair straightened, sunglasses on her nose, wearing a black dress that toyed the line between sexy and indecent, combined with a set of killer heels. She certainly did turn more than just Wells' head.

 

Bozer, posing as Riley's personal stylist, was dressed in a rather eccentric purple jacket and was pulling two pretty big suitcases. (Which obviously contained my technical gear than fashion but nobody knew that of course).

 

Mac, as Riley's manager, was the only one who didn't stray too much from his usual style, it just had gotten a bit more expensive in quality. The dark dress pants and blue button down did make him look the part anyway. The Phoenix stylists had added a set of dark rimmed glasses to the mix and he had been ready to go.

 

Jack, Riley's bodyguard in this scheme, had gone for a classic all black suit ensemble. He scanned their surroundings, noting everything that could help them later and quickly found their target. He made it quite obvious that he was checking Simon Wells over, projecting a special interest in the man as if he knew that he fit the taste of his charge and he would need to keep an eye on him. The smirk playing over Wells' lips told Jack that their plan had worked out just as intended.

 

How well the plan had worked, they saw soon after when their mark had loitered around the lobby until the check in for their team had been completed, just to enter the elevator together with them.

 

"You're not from around here, am I right? I'm sure I would remember a beautiful lady like yourself." Wells started, eyes directly on Riley as if the three men around her didn't exist. The woman barely quirked an eyebrow at the rather uncreative opening but let a smirk play over her lips.

 

Jack squared his shoulders and cleared his throat pointedly, fixing the young man with a hard glare.

 

"Oh where are my manners, I'm Simon Wells." their target said without missing a beat, apparently not in the least intimidated by Jack.

 

That introduction however was the moment that was supposed to peak Riley's interest. The small smirk turned into a smile as she pulled off her sunglasses, giving Wells an interested once over.

"It's a pleasure, Mr Wells. Your reputation preceeds you. I'm Ruby!" she said. Wells made to grab her hand but instantly Jack shifted closer. Riley laughed, sparkling and soft and as fake as it was going to get for everyone who knew her.

"It's fine! Please excuse him, he does get a bit overprotective sometimes..."

 

Wells nodded with a smile of his own, gently grabbed Riley's hand and pressed a kiss to her knuckles.

"Who could blame him, besides it is his job, I assume and with a pretty lady like you he certainly has his job cut out for him. But please, call me Simon."

 

"You would assume right, Simon." she agreed with a flirty little smile.

 

"Speaking of having his job cut out for him, how about making his job a little easier. Let me take you out to lunch tomorrow, give him the time off. I promise I will take good care of you." he grinned charmingly.

 

Jack had to give him credit, he certainly knew how not to waste time.

 

"I'm honoured, Simon. But I'm afraid I can't do that, am I right, Adrian?" Riley turned to Mac on her other side. "Not that I wouldn't want to give Leo the afternoon off." she clarified to their target.

 

"You would be right, Ruby. I'm afraid there won't be enough time for lunch. Your shooting starts at ten and if you're still set on going to this party tomorrow night, you will have to give your A-game at the job." Mac said, pitching his voice in a way that obviously radiated disapproval of her plan which seemed to interest Wells only more.

 

"You certainly drive a hard bargain, Mr..."

"Adrian Clarkson, Ruby's manager. And it's not a matter of bargaining, I'm just doing my job. I was hired to get her into the big leagues, certain sacrifices must be made for that. I'm sure you understand, Mr. Wells." Mac said, challenging, antagonizing their target without being too direct about it. "And before you suggest it, I'm afraid dinner tonight won't be an option either. Ruby has a strict nutrition plan and Marc won't be happy if he has to cover her dark circles again..." Mac gave Bozer a small nod.

 

"Absolutely not, I need her in perfect condition, she can't afford a lapse like last time, it very nearly cost her her job." Bozer said silently but with so much vehemence that Riley visibly shrank under their combined criticism.

 

Wells looked at the three men surrounding Riley calculatingly, studied her reaction to them and something like sympathy appeared on his face, obviously fake for the trained eye, but still there. Their plan had worked like a charme, hook, line and sinker.

 

"Gentlemen, of course I don't want to stand in Ruby's way. It would be a pity if the world got deprived of such beauty, just because I'd like to have a meal with her. However, please let me accompany you to the party tomorrow. As chance would have it, that's the main reason I'm here this weekend." he looked at Riley again, who sent him a slightly bashful smile.

 

"I'd like that, Simon. I'm in the suite on floor 17, why don't you pick me up there tomorrow at eight?" she said with a slightly nervous look in Mac's direction.

 

"Well now I know it must be fate, I'm in the suite on floor 18. And I would like that very much. It's a date, Miss Ruby, I'm looking forward to it." once again he brushed his lips against Riley's hand before stepping aside to let her and her entourage leave the elevator.

 

~*~

 

"Well that worked like a charme..." Bozer grinned when they had reached their suite and they finally could relax again, dropping their covers.

 

Riley kicked off her heels with a happy groan, massaging her feet.

"God, I hate high heels... but yeah, that was almost too easy. Although I certainly do see how unsuspecting girls would fall for him, he certainly has his game down... by the way, Mac, good job on the 'silently threatening act' if I hadn't known it, I probably would have fallen for it, too."

 

Mac smiled, rolling his eyes.

"Now that's a rather twisted compliment right there, Riley... but it did serve it's purpose for sure." he said, pulling one of the suitcases closer to get a headstart on setting up their operation.

 

Jack pulled off his tie and jacket, opening the top two buttons, sighing in relief just like Riley.

"It's a compliment for your talent, Mac. I told you before, the way you can slip into your roles is really kind of awesome and creepy at the same time. Finally it's not just me who sees it."

 

"Thanks a lot, we all saw how much good that did me when I had to impersonate Murdoc..." the blond muttered softly.

 

"Aw hell, kid... I didn't meant to remind you of that shit. That was different, I tell you. You had that madman whispering in your ear the whole time..." the older tried to make things better.

 

Bozer watched his best friend for a moment, how he fiddled with their tech, getting lost in his head frighteningly fast.

"Let it go, Jack..." he murmured, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "Hey Mac, you remember how Penny had this audition thing here in New York and brought home this huge box of pastries?" he changed the topic.

 

The blond huffed, grateful for the distraction.

"Yeah, I remember... she ended up mailing home half her stuff, just so she could fit the box in her suitcase..." he grinned at the memory.

 

"Man, I could really kill for one of those... they might have been the most expensive pastries ever if you count in the shipping fees but boy they were good..."

 

"Well thanks, guys, now I'm craving pastries..." Riley grumbled.

 

"Well tough, you're on a 'strict nutrition plan', Missy... only salad for you..." Jack teased, earning himself a well-aimed kick as a result. "Ow!"

 

"You deserved that one, Jack." Mac grinned, relaxed again thanks to his friends. "But I'm sure we can find some pastries. In fact Boze, why don't you check the room service menu, I'm kind of hungry anyway."

 

His best friend didn't have to be told twice, if Mac admitted to being hungry on his own, you didn't mess with that.

"Well they have food alright but no pastries on this menu... but tell you what, you set up the gear and I go out and buy some for dessert."

 

~*~

 

That's how they had spent the evening and the next day as well.

Riley had easily worked her way into the security system, giving them access to every camera in the building.

 

Mac had quickly rigged up a card reader, small enough that it would allow Riley to send Wells' room key data back to them to give them access to his suite to search for the flashdrive.

 

And before they knew it, Riley had to get ready for her 'date with the devil' for all they knew. Bozer, true to his cover, took over her styling, surprisingly capable with make-up and her hair. The woman was impressed when she looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair in a half up-do and the rest of it falling in soft waves over her mostly exposed shoulders. Her eyes smokey and enticing with golden highlights, perfectly matched to the shimmery golden fabric of her dress, which was long with a teasing neckline, a plunging back and a downright dangerous slit on the side.

 

Mac grinned at her when she returned from the bedroom where she had changed.

"Look at you... you look really beautiful, Riley." he said, voice warm with a hint of pride.

 

"Thanks Mac." she nodded but didn't say much more when a dull thud interrupted her. Jack had returned from his own bedroom, back in his bodyguard suit to welcome their guest, and had let his phone slip from his hand when he saw Riley.

 

"Well fuck me... now I'm really glad I made sure you can defend yourself properly, kid, with this get-up, you'll need it!" he said, his voice slightly raspy. The three younger agents all grinned at that because they all knew that Jack had to fight himself really hard in that moment. Riley was his little girl after all, despite everything the both of them said against the matter and this situation had a lot of her getting picked up by her prom date.

 

Luckily neither of them had enough time to comment on that matter when a knock came from the door and all four of them slipped back into their roles. Jack opened the door, a grim glare directed at Wells who grinned confidently back.

 

"She'll be with you in a second, Mr. Wells." Mac called from across the room, where he stood close to Riley, his stance intimidating, one hand curled tight around one of her wrists, leaning in as if to whisper into her ear. All he actually said was 'good luck' but Riley put on an act as if he had threatened her with something. All of it perfectly in the line of sight of her date.

 

Acting all gentlemanly, Simon Wells held out his arm to guide her towards the elevator and the roof where the party was supposed to take place.

 

From there the op worked out without a hitch. Even before they had entered the elevator, the system in their suite came to life already, making an exact copy of Wells' room key.

 

Mac and Jack quickly and efficiently made their way through the suite, turning ever pillow, checking the room safe and everything in between, there was no flashdrive. There was however a laptop on the bedside table which Mac took the time to insert Riley's reading key into which automatically sent a mirror image of the harddrive to the Phoenix network, in case there would be some information on potential buyers and/or evidence as to what had happened to Wells' previous liaisons.

 

"The suite is clean. If the flashdrive is here, he must have it on him." Jack softly informed Riley over her earpiece. It had been a gamble to take it with her but all three men had been adamant on that point.

 

"She got the message..." Bozer informed them, when Mac and Jack returned to their own suite. He had taken video feed duty and had seen Riley's descreet look right into one of the cameras and her slight nod after Jack had given her the news. "And so far Wells is being a proper gentleman, although it seems like you two certainly did your job well..." he grinned.

 

It was true, from the little bit of chatter they had heard over the comms, Wells was trying to convince Riley that the way she was being treated wasn't right and if she would want to, he could help her out with that. Riley, dancing on the line between challenging and easily impressed, gave off a reluctant air but finally -as if telling him a secret- she admitted that he was right and she would really like to flee the clutches of her manager and bodyguard.

 

After a surprisingly short time everything went to hell after that.

Promising Riley to help her, he led her away from the party, vanishing from the screens. Quickly Bozer skipped through the long string of the various cameras but they had completely lost visual.

 

"Riley, we lost you on the cameras, give us a sign if you need back-up." Mac told her via the comms but only got silence back. That in itself wasn't surprising since she could hardly start talking to herself with Wells beside her but without visual to determine she was still alright, it was really disconcerting.

 

The silence turned even worse when more and more static mixed into the connection, suggesting that wherever Wells had taken Riley, it interfered with their system.

 

"I don't like this, he could have taken her anywhere by now..." Jack grumbled, more and more on edge the longer the silence lasted.

 

"Well not exactly anywhere, if they had left the building we would have seen it, there literally is no exit we don't have eyes on, Jack. I do agree however that the situation isn't ideal. Boze, can you pull up the building schematics?" Mac asked, turning to a screen to the side, trying to determine where Riley had disappeared to, what place there was that wasn't under camera surveillance and could interfere with their signal at the same time.

 

He was just following a side passage that was probably used by staff decades ago but was mostly forgotten about by now and which led into some kind of washroom when a broken up yell, followed by a crash and Riley's pained curses crackled through the interference.

 

Jack was instantly on his feet, his gun already drawn and his teeth clenched.

"Where, Mac... tell me you have a location!"

 

"I do! Boze, keep an eye out in case this guy gets away... come on!" the blond called already halfway out the door.

 

For Jack it seemed like it took them forever to find the entry to the secret passage and the room Riley had been taken to. That they had the right place was pretty obvious by the sound already, even before Jack kicked in the door, fully prepared to break both of Wells' arms in order to protect his girl.

 

Instead they were greeted by Riley kneeling hard on Wells' back, both his arms twisted painfully on his back and bleeding profusely from a busted nose and a laceration above his right eye.

 

Riley looked a little ruffled, her hairstyle ruined, quickly purpling marks at the base of her throat and a handful of scratches down her arms but other than that alright. She did look majorly pissed however.

 

"Took you long enough, guys! Could you take care of this scumbag or I might just forget myself and kick my heel in his crotch for good measure. Oh and I have the flashdrive." she said, getting to her feet the moment Jack was close enough to keep Wells contained.

 

"Sorry, technical glitch..." Mac explained. "Had to find you the old-fashioned way. You alright?"

 

"Yeah, I figured as much when it turned suspiciously silent on your end and yes, I'm fine. Better than this asshole for sure. Now I know why you made me promise not to use that move to any of you in earnest, Jack." she nodded, smirked at the older.

 

"Yeah well, I didn't say that for no reason... I'm glad it worked!"

 

"Like a charme, thanks Jack..." Riley said and together they started their way back to their suite, an old, balled up towel roughly pressed against the bleeding of their involuntary guest.

 

The moment their connection was clear again, Mac informed Bozer about what had happened and by the time they made it back to the suite, his friend had already contacted Matty who dispatched the local FBI to take Wells and the flashdrive off their hands.

 

Riley's first stop was her room when they returned to the suite, letting the guys take care of Wells until back-up arrived. Within minutes she was back in her ripped, black jeans, a shirt and a hoodie again. And feeling so much better.

 

"Huh, I hope Matty won't be pissed, your move worked perfectly, Jack, but this dress didn't make it out on the other side..." she said when she returned to the main room, inspecting the slit that was significantly longer than it had originally been.

 

"Shit happens, sweetheart. The dress was collateral, you're alright, that's what's important!"

 

A little later, Riley quickly relayed what had gone down from the moment they had lost visual to her friends and the FBI agents and handed over the flashdrive.

 

Bozer closed the door after them and turned around.

"Well that was interesting! Hey and for once nobody got shot at and nothing exploded!" he added with a grin.

 

"True! Doesn't happen often..." Mac grinned.

 

"Mostly because you're a crazy little pyromaniac, kid!" Jack teased and made them all laugh.

 

"Guys, I don't know about you but I think I deserve some dessert... anyone up for a pastry run?" Riley asked with a smile, doubled the laughter with her request.

 

(Simon Wells, despite the expensive lawyers he could afford, ended up behind bars for a long time for not only stealing and selling state secrets but also for several charges of illegally filming and blackmailing young women, which the Phoenix team uncovered on the harddrive Mac had mirrored.) 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Ideas? Song recommendations? Let me know!


End file.
